Drugs are saving Joes job!

The mine started drug testing every crew last week. Now there's a way to eliminate employees without having to lay anyone off! Especially here in Ely. They should be able to get rid of at least 1/4 of the labor out there since we live in the Meth capital of the world! Tee-hee! Joes job is safe for now!

Spot light on Katie

My 5 year old daughter brings me such joy everyday. Her creativity amazes me. Her favorite thing in the whole world is doing art, and when she brings me her latest creation, I am almost always in awe that she made it. I know that every mother thinks that the things that her children make are the best, and maybe I'm crazy, but this girl is going to grow up to do something artsy. She makes her own paper dolls, engineers bridges for her ponies to cross out of Knex, makes Kites that can actually fly, built a farris wheel for her pollypockets to ride in, and the list goes on. She is such a blessing in my life, and I love to just watch her go.

School

In the fall, I will have both of my children in school all day. I have been a stay at home mom since my son was born almost 8 years ago, but the time is coming for me to either get a job, go back to school, or both. Today I spent a bunch of time researching scholarships for school since I cannot afford school without a second income. From what I read, it's pretty tough to get a scholarship if you are not coming directly from high school, or a returning student. Since I will be neither of those, I'm not sure if I can pull it off. I do know that I don't want to end up cleaning hotel rooms or becoming a waitress! I'm crossing my fingers that I can figure it all out before the fall semester begins.

The goings on

As many people in my life know, I've been having trouble with the wireless Internet that I have through alltel. Our service has been so slow, that going on the Internet has been frustrating. It seems to be going better today, so I thought I'd sit down and write a blog. This one is for my mom, as she told me she has been waiting for me to post something, even though, she already knows all about my life! This one is just the goings on.

-Joe completed his drill training at the mine. He can now add this to his resume and that is a good thing. He is currently drilling on his own and enjoying it. As my Ground (Grandpa) said, as long as they don't let him handle the dynamite, we'll ll be O.K. LOL!

-Currently, the mine is still running and they have not started layoffs. At the moment they have a lot of skilled individuals shoveling snow by hand to cut costs and keep everyone working. I think that shows that they really are concerned about the employees since we know that they could operate with 40 percent of the labor that they have.

-Last week, Joe went to the Doctor and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Although this will be a long term battle for both of us, and our children, I am thrilled that Joe took the step to go to the Doctor and get proper medication. I know that we will all be much happier people.

-The holidays were FABULOUS!!! My parents, sister, and niece came to Ely for Christmas and we had a blast! The kids enjoyed playing in the snow with Nana and Papa, we got to ride on the Polar Express and Christmas day was such fun. My mom and I even had a good time going to the Laundromat about 4 times! It was nice to be with them and I am missing them already

-We got a second car!!! After about 6 months of me walking everywhere while Joe had the car at work, we finally got ourselves an 88 Dodge Ram Charger. It is perfect for Joe to take to and from work and even has 4x4 for the snow. I feel truly blessed!

-Zachary has his first loose tooth at the age of 71/2 and he is very excited. It's coming out any day now.

-Katie read me her first book last week and I am trying to go overboard on the encouragement as she tells me daily that she hates school.

I am looking forward to 2009 and praying that it will be crisis free, as I have not experienced a quiet year in a long time.